CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Study Sites

The study will be conducted at three different municipalities of Sarangani Province

namely Maasim, Alabel and Glan. Sarangani Province is located at southeastern Mindanao

between 5°33`25” - 6°6`15”N and 124°22’45”- 125°19`45”E.

Figure 1 showing the map of Sarangani province and the three sampling sites for the study.

3.2 Establishment of transects and quadrats (adapted from ____).

A purposive sampling will be employed to in the establishment of quadrats and transects.

In a study site, suitable areas will be selected in the intertidal and mangrove areas. Transects and
quadrats will be established to areas where mollusks are usually found. About 3 transects each

with length of 150 meters will be laid in the area. At least 50 meters will be the distance between

each transect. Along the transect line, sampling quadrats with an area of 1m 2 (1m X 1m) will be

placed. Such that about 20 quadrats will be established along a transect line.

3.3 Collection and preservation of bivalves and gastropods

For the quantitative analysis of the mangrove mollusks hand picking will be used for

collection. Occsionally, sharp blade or spatula will be used to persistent organisms. Although,

hand picking is more preferable technique because it will not damage the nearer area

(Shanmugam and Rajagopal; Varshney and Ghosh, 1997). In preserving samples, 70% Ethyl

alcohol will be used in the collected samples. Photographs will be taken to aid in the

identification of collected mollusks.

3.4. Identification of species

The collected mollusk species will be identified to the lowest possible taxon. The main

reference to be used for mollusk identification will be the book of . Other reliable identification

manuals and guides will also be utilized. Photographs of samples will be sent to molluskan

taxonomists to confirm the identification of species.

3.5 Diversity attributes

Mollusk biodiversity measurements will be made using Margalef’s Index of Community

Diversity (Magurran 1998) and Menhinick’s index for species Richness

(Shanmugam&Vairamani 2009). As measure of species diversity, Margalef’s index is calculated

from the total number of species present and the abundance or total number of individuals,
wherein the higher the index, the greater the diversity. The species richness index of Menhinick

attempts to compensate for sample effects by dividing richness, S, the number of species

recorded, by N, the total number of individuals in the sample (Magurran 1988). Other variables

like dominance, frequency, abundance and their respective relative values and evenness will also

be included.